As aesthetically awesome as a limit of greenheads looks in real time or photo... And I've shot my fair share. but there is and underlying truth that they fall fair to midland when it comes to table-fare. I think this culture of mallard purists is as phony as guys who buy bands off eBay to fit in. Don't get me wrong, I love shooting green heads, but we are not out here just for a cool picture or to impress the guys in the parking lot. It's about eating what you shoot, and in my opinion there are ducks and some geese I would just rather shoot than mallards for the taste.

My top ten

1.wood duck

2.teal

3.pintail

4.widgeon

5.speck

6.mallard

7. Gadwall

8. Readhead

9. Canvasback

10. Spoonbill (northern CA)

again, just my opinion...

Just food for thought but mallards are habitual invertebrate eaters and are known to eat fish, snails and other things that will alter the taste of the flesh. Again not trying to take the mallard off its pedestal, just saying the not filling the strap with only mallards every time may lead to better eats...

"suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a member of congress, But I repeat myself".- Mark Twain

"Go to heaven for the climate , go to hell for the company".- Mark Twain

Kudos for your post! I tend to agree that mallards are kind of m/o/r for taste, but then that is all just a matter of personal preference and culinary skill. I like readheads, ringnecks, teal, and widgeon the most, and goose jerky is awesome. Hunting is about getting food, isn't it?

goosehappy wrote:Kudos for your post! I tend to agree that mallards are kind of m/o/r for taste, but then that is all just a matter of personal preference and culinary skill. I like readheads, ringnecks, teal, and widgeon the most, and goose jerky is awesome. Hunting is about getting food, isn't it?

Thank you sir.... You hit it on the head!! Hunting is about the food!!! but I fret for some people it is about the what others tell them is cool, or what they learned on the outdoor channel.

"suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a member of congress, But I repeat myself".- Mark Twain

"Go to heaven for the climate , go to hell for the company".- Mark Twain

In order that I would eat1. Pintail2. Pintail3.Shot to hell Pintail4. Speck. after all they are just big pintail5. Mallard6. valley rice fed canvasback7. rice widgeon not the green butt kind8. teal9. spoonie only because I have eaten good spoonies\10 . gadwall.....only if I was starving to death11. bay divers....see above

Haven't had the luxury of eating a wood duck yet, but hopefully this is the year I get this opportunity. I've heard from lots of people they they are the best. Can't wait. I do love my teal and wigeon though. Mallards and pintail are great too, but I would quite say that they taste "worse" than teal or wigeon, just different. Now for geese...specks take the kitty for sure. Regardless, cooked right, I'm excited when it's dinner time with any of them on a plate.

"The culture of mallard pursits" What the hell does that mean? There are very very few PURISTS although many say they are they just can't help themselves when times are slow or hard they resort to shooting anything on those days yet they forget to mention those days in their tales....

Waterfowl in general if not cooked correctly all taste poorly.... Depending on what the duck is feeding on also determines alot on how they taste....... Just shot many mallards in Canada all wheat/barley and peas and they all tasted very good...

Good thread just don't think everyone buys bands or is a purist either :)

yellowdog53 wrote:"The culture of mallard pursits" What the hell does that mean? There are very very few PURISTS although many say they are they just can't help themselves when times are slow or hard they resort to shooting anything on those days yet they forget to mention those days in their tales....

Waterfowl in general if not cooked correctly all taste poorly.... Depending on what the duck is feeding on also determines alot on how they taste....... Just shot many mallards in Canada all wheat/barley and peas and they all tasted very good...

Good thread just don't think everyone buys bands or is a purist either :)

Oh I don't think everybody buys bands or is a mallard purist... It was a tongue in cheek statement conveying that a lot of the new duck hunters try's to emulate what they see On The outdoor channel,(guys shooting nothing but greenheads) or trying too anyway.Which is fine, but what we don't see is guys talking about eating them, eating other kinds of ducks. I think we are getting away from the point of hunting with that. Hey if a mallard is your favorite eating duck, then he'll yeah more power to ya, but let's not forget.. We hunt to put dinner on the table, everything else about it comes second. That's why the only show I watch on the outdoor channel is DUTV because they actually have a cooking segment with Scott Laysath cooking up everything from honkers to ring necks. And dude that's awesome you just shot a bunch of mallards in Canada...food wise I'm excited for you but status wise I would be just as impressed with a mixed bag.

"suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a member of congress, But I repeat myself".- Mark Twain

"Go to heaven for the climate , go to hell for the company".- Mark Twain

ShootThemInTheEye wrote:In order that I would eat1. Pintail2. Pintail3.Shot to hell Pintail4. Speck. after all they are just big pintail5. Mallard6. valley rice fed canvasback7. rice widgeon not the green butt kind8. teal9. spoonie only because I have eaten good spoonies\10 . gadwall.....only if I was starving to death11. bay divers....see above

Couldn't agree more!

GK

Earning Your Respect One Post at a Time

Dacowboy wrote:Jesus christ it's like the last day on Fiji with you guys on here.

sprigpig1 wrote:As aesthetically awesome as a limit of greenheads looks in real time or photo... And I've shot my fair share. but there is and underlying truth that they fall fair to midland when it comes to table-fare. I think this culture of mallard purists is as phony as guys who buy bands off eBay to fit in. Don't get me wrong, I love shooting green heads, but we are not out here just for a cool picture or to impress the guys in the parking lot. It's about eating what you shoot, and in my opinion there are ducks and some geese I would just rather shoot than mallards for the taste.

My top ten

1.wood duck

2.teal

3.pintail

4.widgeon

5.speck

6.mallard

7. Gadwall

8. Readhead

9. Canvasback

10. Spoonbill (northern CA)

again, just my opinion...

Just food for thought but mallards are habitual invertebrate eaters and are known to eat fish, snails and other things that will alter the taste of the flesh. Again not trying to take the mallard off its pedestal, just saying the not filling the strap with only mallards every time may lead to better eats...

Don't know what the canvasback you've bagged have been eating but I just cooked up a canvasback, woodie, 2 mallards and a GWT for a taste test for a couple of hunters and a couple of non hunters and the canvasback won hands down.